Going Native in Tenerife – What, no room for postres?

Eagle-eyed readers, or more likely those of you with a sweet tooth may notice an omission from the food and drink section and the recommended restaurants in the town and city guide section of 'Going Native in Tenerife' – there’s very little mention of local postres (desserts).

This is mainly because we don’t think that Tenerife does postres particularly well. If you’re a fan of school dinner type puds from the 60s and 70s you might disagree and I know our friend Pamela at Secret Tenerife has a liking for them, but milky and rice based desserts just don’t ring our bell, so we tended to concentrate on gastronomic areas where we felt the island’s cuisine was more mouth watering.

However, just in case you think you might be about to miss out on some culinary delights here are a few examples of the kind of local postres you’re likely to find on most traditional menus.

Arroz con leche (milky rice pudding)

Rice boiled in milk and flavoured with cinnamon, sugar and lemon rind.

Leche asada (roast milk)

Whisked eggs, milk, lemon rind, cinnamon, sugar and condensed milk baked in the oven until set.

By this point you may have noticed certain similarities in the ingredients.

Quesedilla (cheesecake – but not the type you might be expecting)

Grated soft cheese, flour, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, aniseed and lemon rind mixed together to a doughy consistency and baked in the oven.

Bienmesabe (Almond dessert)

Ground almonds, sugar, water, egg yolks, cinnamon and, of course, lemon rind. Heated and mixed to a syrupy consistency and served cold.

See what I mean?